Sicko

My health care provider runs a commercial on primetime TV. It urges me to eat well, get exercise, and take the stress out of my life. The underlying message is: take care of yourself so that we don’t have to. Michael Moore has created a film shows that shows us a health care system whose corruption, amorality, and deficiencies go much deeper than these calculated ads.
Sicko is the work of a propagandist (which is not always a pejorative) of great skill. Moore’s film strays little from the aesthetic that he established in his first film, Roger and Me and has not strayed from. Once again ironic footage of Americana and wistful music are juxtaposed against the harshness of real life. The patter of his script will be very familiar to patrons of his previous movies.
As he done in each of his films, Moore includes footage that you will never be able to get out of your head (the skinning of a rabbit in Roger and Me, the security camera footage of the massacre in Bowling for Columbine, the child victims of carpet bombings in Fahrenheit 9/11). In Sicko it is the image of a disoriented woman wandering Los Angeles’ skid row after being dumped there by a local hospital that will hit viewers in their cores.
As he did with Fahrenheit 9/11, Moore has made a more serious piece than, say, Bowling for Columbine. His signature humor (which is truly his greatest asset in bringing his message to the world) though still sharp, has been toned it down a bit. Moore, who was in almost every frame of Roger and Me, has largely removed himself from this film choosing to let victims of the health care system do the talking. He has even lowered the snarkiness quotient in his voice a few levels. This is appropriate for the often tragic nature of the film. However, the transitions to lighter fare are, at times, awkward. At these moments it feels like Moore is not sure what type of movie he wants to make.
The charge that Sicko is one sided is true. The fact that it is also a gripping and entertaining movie that appeals to middle class values is what scares his detractors. This film is not a documentary at all. It is a compelling expose of a national crisis and one man’s proposal for a solution. It is not unfair to characterize Sicko as a two hour commercial for nationalized health care. However, this is a commercial that Moore has the right to make. After all, we sit through plenty of air time that endorses privatized health care each time we turn on the TV.